Lens of Time (13 page)

“Won’t we have the same issue?”

RV said, “Not really. We’re going to use a domino formation and I’ll send you the structure so you can start training your ships how to organize. Each of our fleets will organize into a domino and then move as a unit into our structure.”

The Hive Controller said, “That’s why you should command.”

“Thank you for your confidence. If the two of you will have your Fleet Commanders contact me, I’ll give them what they need to get started.”

“Are we going to use this structure in the next attack or wait for the combined assault?”

“We’ll hold it until the end.”

The two showed their agreement and disappeared from the display. George said, “Do you think we can win?”

“No, we’ll lose if they combine.”

“You don’t see any way for us for us to prevail?”

RV sighed, “George, I suspect that if we defeat the next attack, both sectors may combine against us. There is no way for us to win against more than seven hundred million ships with the number of ships we have to face them. We can only make them pay a price that hopefully causes them to turn on each other afterwards. I’m just hoping we can buy time to build the numbers needed to eventually take them on.”

George thought about the numbers and slowly shook his head, “Keep me updated.”

“I will, Sir.”

• • •

Dolly turned her panel off and thought about the conversation she had just listened in on. There had to be a way for the fleets to survive. She knew Jeff was going to be fighting and she was determined not to lose him. But what could be done?

• • •

“I’ve just received a modification for the new small ships.”

“What modification? We’ve already committed our facilities to the original plans.”

“It appears that our friends have developed a way for the power to be switched from the force field to their new high powered beam.”

“Ummmm, does that mean the only modifications will be the installation of a beam and the switching?”

“Just a moment.”

“We’ve completed more than a million of them. A radical change is just not doable and still allow us to continue our construction of new ships.”

“It appears that’s all it is. The beam will use the same sensors that target the missiles.” The being looked up, “It appears that all you need to do is install one of the beams on top of the ship in a rotary mount and connect it to the new relay.”

“Let me take a look at those plans.”

“Well?”

“We can do this at the storage site. We just need to bring in the beams from the battleship construction sites and make the connections. I don’t even think we’ll have to change the hull structure.”

“Is this worth doing?”

“Absolutely; what good will the small ships be once they’ve fired all of their missiles? Now they have a weapon they can use to continue fighting.”

“I’ve learned that a number of our closest neighbors are discussing a unified attack against us.”

“They are?”

“Yes. The Jongen are the ones pushing it.”

“Should we go and talk with them?”

“We can’t use the new ships to carry on the discussion.”

“We should attack them with our old ships.”

“Why?”

“We won’t send a number that would make us appear weakened but this must be slowed down. We’re not ready to defend ourselves yet.”

“Make your plans and I’ll inform the others after you initiate the attack that we don’t appreciate anyone scheming to attack our worlds.”

“I’ll launch the attack in ten hours.”

• • •

The Jongen fleet in orbit around their capital suddenly detected more than a hundred thousand ships breaking into normal space. Twenty thousand Jongen ships were blasted into burning hulks before the white ships disappeared and attacked ships at every Jongen planet. After eight hours the white ships disappeared and left a message that the Jongen understood. The Jongen had to fight off two of the civilizations that were being asked to join them in an attack on the white ships. The entire region teetered on massive civil war but suddenly returned to equilibrium. The balance was precarious and had almost been upset. The Jongen decided not to have any more discussions about attacking the white civilization.

• • •

“Did you see any of the ships being used by the Minors in the attack?”

“I did not. They only used ships that we’ve seen before.”

“Could that new ship have left their domain without being scanned?”

The Scanner paused and said, “We learned when the first ship escaped that it did not leave a trail through null space. It is possible that it entered null space on the side of the planet away from the scanner being used to watch them.”

“Have you been able to find it on the planet?”

“No, I have not. I can say with a high level of certainty that it is no longer on that planet.”

“What if they disassembled it to study its technology?”

“There would still be sections of the hull I would detect.”

“What can you tell me about their ship construction?”

“You know the main construction yards are at their capital. The only ships being worked on there are the older models that are being updated to the newest ones in their ranks. None of them look like the strange ship that went there.”

“We need to get someone there to really take a good look around.”

“We can use one of the merchants from Glesen. They have a trade treaty with them and go to their Capital on a regular basis. We can give them a scanner to take a look.”

“Make that happen.”

• • •

“It appears our little subterfuge is working.”

“This new sensor probe really captures their communications.”

“What are you going to do about the Glesen? If they come in with a scanner from the Ramst and do a full scan from inside our borders, they might uncover what we’re hiding.”

“Doesn’t it just make you sick you can’t trust anyone?”

“I wouldn’t go that far. You know no one can be trusted so you’re never disappointed.”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Well what do you mean?” The First stared at the Second and then said, “It makes you really sick.” The Second nodded. The first said, “Get it started.”

“Right away.”

• • •

The Glesen ship appeared in the outer system and asked for clearance to land. The display came on and the controller said, “I won’t stop you from landing but you should know that our planet has been infected with some kind of disease. We are stopping all flights of our ships in and out of our space ports. You are welcome to come if you choose. We will not dishonor our agreement with your people.”

The Glesen Commander said, “Don’t move any closer and scan the planet quickly.”

“Sir, the space port is empty and the construction facility is idle. There are hundreds of ambulances moving in the cities and there are bodies lying in the streets.”

“How many of their cities are affected?”

“It looks like all of the major cities.”

The Commander hit his control board, “We will return to our planet. Let us know when you have this under control.”

Another face appeared on the display, “I’m taking it from here. The previous controller has collapsed. We’ll notify you when things return to normal.”

“Sir, I’ve seen three warships that were lifting from the planet sent back to the surface. This must be quite serious.”

“Send the report and get us out of here.”

• • •

The Ramst King raised his head from his display and said, “You’ve seen the Glesen report?”

“I have. Has it been verified?”

“We can see bodies in the streets with our scanners. Their fleet above the surface has been moved twice the distance from the planet and six ships have been destroyed that were attempting to leave. It appears this epidemic is real.”

“Is there still no sign of a different battleship in their formations?”

“No, there’s not.”

“I’ll get back to you.”

• • •

Three days later the Scanner’s board alarmed, “We’re going to move your efforts elsewhere.”

“Why?”

“We’re wasting time scanning for something that isn’t there. The group feels we should be taking a close look at the other sector and what’s happening with their rebellious civilizations. We know for a fact those formidable battleships are there. We have the most powerful scanners in the sector and we have been requested to use them differently. The consensus is we’re wasting them on the Whites.”

“I’ll change their orientation but do you want me to keep one of the scanners on them?”

There was a long pause and the contact said, “No, it’s a waste of good machinery. Could you have missed anything?”

“You know how good my equipment is. If it was there, I’d know it.”

“I still wonder why that ship went to the Whites.”

“Whatever the reason, it appears they didn’t get what they were hoping to accomplish.” The Scanner looked at his display and said, “Since we’re going to be the first to know what happens in the other sector, we’ll have the best opportunity to take the most promising territory.”

“I didn’t know you were telepathic.”

“I’m not.”

“Then I like the way you think. Find us a good one.”

“Consider it done.”

• • •

“It looks like our plan worked.”

“It does but we need to expand this disease to other planets.”

“I’ve already started the process. Do you think they can tell if the bodies in the street are real or not?”

“The Ramst have scanners that could but everyone else doesn’t. If they are looking elsewhere, we should be fine. Just make sure the ship building facilities have a large number of them scattered around. That way they won’t be suspicious when no one is working. You should also have a large number of those close to the facility be on alert to run to the facility and lie down on the ground if we hear the Ramst are going to scan us.”

“I’ll make the assignments. We’ll move the construction crews and use them to help us make the modifications on the small ships. Those additional workers will be a huge blessing.”

“What’s the latest ship total?”

It’s well over three million and it’s becoming more difficult to hide the movement of materials to the secret locations.”

“One of the best things we did was to construct those locations inside moons and asteroids. Their metallic surface makes detection almost impossible.”

“I’m also glad we built most of them thousands of years ago.”

“We had to prepare for this moment in time. However, a large number of them are starting to run out of construction materials. Even a weak scan would see us delivering them to uninhabited locations.”

“What about this? Offload a land drill first; that will make it look like we’re going to mine the moon or asteroid. Start the drill and off load whatever you want. The spies will just think we’re doing exploration for natural resources.”

“What a great idea. I should have thought of that. I guess that’s why you’re Number One. They might also think we’re building places to move our sick.”

“Even better if they draw that conclusion.”

The Second paused a moment and said, “You know if all the others decided to combine against our friends, they will demand our participation. What are we going to do?”

“Participate, of course.”

“What?”

“We wouldn’t want to miss that party. Just make sure the noise makers are ready.”

The Second laughed and left the room.

• • •

“Loree.”

“Yes Mikal.”

“You do know I love you?”

Loree looked up from the data on the last test flights and stared at him. He continued to look down at his display. “No, I didn’t know that.”

Mikal kept his head down and said, “Well, I do. I just thought you should know.”

Loree looked back down at her display and said, “Thank you for telling me.”

Mikal held his breath hoping she would respond but he felt in his heart that she was just too good for him. She would never fall for someone like him. He took a deep breath and felt his heart in his throat. He should have thought of another way to tell her but he was just so clumsy with words and no one had ever described him as being romantic. He kept his eyes on his display and hoped he could slip out of the room unnoticed.

“When’s our wedding?”

Mikal almost fell out of his chair. He looked at Loree and saw her sitting in her chair staring at him with a twinkle in her eyes. Mikal forced himself to not show his excitement. “I thought we could decide that right after I come over there and kiss you.”

Loree’s lips moved to the right and she slowly nodded, “That sounds reasonable.”

Mikal jumped up and was in front of her in an instant. She stood and leaded back and he kissed her deeply. Loree had no idea he was such a good kisser. He broke the kiss and she said, “I really think we should discuss it after the next ten kisses.”

Mikal pulled her close and proceeded to follow her request.

Chapter Ten

T
he dark creature said, “No, leave that behind. I won’t need it.”

The aide dropped the old pad and said, “Congratulations on your promotion to the Central Council.”

“They were impressed with my new ships.”

“I understand there was an unfortunate accident.”

“Yes, one of my ships malfunctioned and destroyed eight of the ships coming out to escort it away. I promised the Council I would make repairs so it would not happen again.”

“Are you worried they might attempt something on your arrival?”

“Not really. They want the technology and were really surprised at my resourcefulness.”

“What is your pad?”

The large creature smiled, “Third.”

The aide shook his head hard, “That high! That’s impressive.”

“You’ll be coming with me.”

“I am?”

“Yes, I have quarters for you and your family close to mine. I’ve become accustomed to you and don’t want to train another.”

“Thank you.”

“Hurry up and get all this moved. There’s a conference about sending a combined fleet against the Minors and I don’t want to miss it.”

“Will they send your ships?”